Thursday 1 November 2007

Spicey roast butternut squash and sweet potato soup

Another soup... But this was a good one so I feel the need to put the recipe up... I know it looks like quite a lot of ingredients, but everything is very easy to find in shops in and markets. And all those spices give it a really nice deep, rich flavour which is very comforting!

What you need is:

1 Butternut squash (you could also use a small - medium pumpkin)
2 - 3 Sweet potatoes, depending on their size
3 - 4 Carrots, depending on their size
3 Onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 - 3 red chillies, depending on their heat and how hot you want it
A piece of ginger the size of your thumb
Lemon grass (optional)
Thai (red) curry paste
A tin of tomatoes
A tin of coconut milk
1.5 litres of stock (chicken or vegetable)
A bunch of fresh coriander
A few springs of rosemary
A few pinches of dried ground coriander
A few pinches of sweet paprika
A couple of bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Roast pumpkin seeds (optional)
Greek yogurt (optional)

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Peel the carrots and sweet potatoes, and chop them into 2 cm wedges / chunks. Chop the squash into a similar size.

Put some olive oil in a baking tray and heat in the oven. After a few minutes, put in the chopped veg and arrange in an even layer. Tuck in sprigs of rosemary, and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Bake for about 30 minutes until they're looking likely they're almost getting blackened in the corners, and feeling soft and tender.

Meanwhile, chop the onions, garlic, chilli, and ginger, and sauté in a large pan. Add the Thai curry paste and dried coriander, and keep softening on a medium heat. Don't let anything brown too much. 'Bruise' the lemon grass and throw that in if you have it. When the onions are soft, add the tomatoes.

When the roast veg is ready, add it to the pan, but leave out the rosemary if possible. Then mush it all a bit, as if you were making lumpy mash. You want some of it to b very smooth, and other bits to be chunky.

At this point, add the coconut milk, and stock, and bring to back to the boil. You don't need to use all the stock if you like it thick and you think it has reached the right consistency.
Let it simmer for 5 minutes or so, while you chop the coriander, and warm some bowls.

Check the seasoning, and then stir most of the coriander.

Serve with a some yogurt spooned on top, and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds, and some more coriander. Add some crusty bread on the side and you have a fine meal in front of you to warm you right through on an Autumn day!